Jose Angel Gomez, 42, formerly of the District, was sentenced today to 35 years in prison, for three rapes he committed between July and October 2018 involving three different victims who were strangers to him, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro and Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department.
Gomez pleaded guilty on January 23 to one count each of first-degree sexual abuse while armed, first degree sexual abuse, attempted first degree sexual abuse and assault with a dangerous weapon.
In addition to the prison term, Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman ordered Gomez to supervised release, and to register as a sex offender, for the remainder of his life.
According to the government’s evidence, which the defendant admitted to, on July 15, 2018, the 22-year-old victim returned home from a night out at approximately 2:40 a.m., and shortly thereafter heard a knock at her basement door. When she opened the door, Gomez, who had a knife, grabbed her, forced her to the ground, and forcibly sexually assaulted the victim.
The defendant cut the victim’s left cheek with the knife. Ultimately, the victim escaped to her home after kicking the defendant and calling 911.
On September 7, 2018, at approximately 11:40 p.m., the defendant, Jose Gomez, followed his second victim as she walked from the Fort Totten Metro station into the nearby 7-11 at 5210 3rd St., Northeast and then followed her after she left the 7-11.
Once in a nearby wooded area of the 100 block of Farragut Street, Northeast, the defendant grabbed the victim, pulled her into a wooded area, brandished a knife, and ordered her to take off her pants. With a knife to her throat and one hand around her neck, the defendant forcibly sexually assaulted the victim.
The defendant fled the scene after the victim had received numerous calls on her cell phone, which she told the defendant was a relative who would come looking for her if she did not answer.
The victim later flagged down police.
On October 21, 2018, at approximately 6:30 a.m., the defendant’s third victim was waiting at the corner of 7th and Longfellow Streets, Northwest, for an Uber to work. As the victim waited alone, the defendant approached and asked her if she was OK and what she was doing.
Once the victim told him she was waiting for an Uber, Gomez continued to speak to her, and eventually she told him to leave her alone. When the victim began walking back towards her apartment building, the defendant followed her and then grabbed her by the throat and squeezed.
The victim could not breathe.
Gomez dragged the victim into the alley and forced her to the ground, where he sexually assaulted her. The defendant then fled on foot.
These violent sexual assaults were solved with a combination of DNA and other evidence.
Once identified, Gomez was arrested in Louisville, Kentucky, on June 7, 2023, and transported by law enforcement to Washington, D.C. The defendant has been incarcerated ever since.
